Title 7 . Health and Social Services

Chapter 56 . (Reserved)

Section 110. Fiscal accountability

7 AAC 56.110. Fiscal accountability

(a) To meet general fiscal requirements a child placement agency shall

(1) be established and maintained on a sound fiscal basis; the division will consider an agency to meet the requirements of this paragraph if the agency has income adequate to cover its expenses;

(2) maintain complete financial records; and

(3) have a fee policy that clearly describes what fees are charged and what services are covered by the fees; for agencies providing adoption services, the fee policy must be submitted to the division.

(b) With regard to child placement activity an agency created within 12 months of an application for a license under AS 47.35 and this chapter shall

(1) set up a financial record keeping system that shows the income from all sources and all expenses;

(2) submit a 12-month budget to the division when the application is submitted under 7 AAC 56.070; and

(3) have predictable income sufficient to cover expenses for the first year of operation.

(c) An agency providing adoption services shall meet general requirements set out in this section in addition to the requirements of (a) and (b) of this section. An agency providing adoption services shall

(1) submit an annual financial report to the division on a form provided by the division that includes

(A) information on adoption related income from all sources earned from adoption services; and

(B) expenses of the agency for adoption-related services;

(2) submit the financial report to the division within 60 days of the end of the agency's fiscal year; and

(3) require completion and approval of a home study of the prospective adoptive family, before the agency accepts money from the family for the adoption of a particular child or fetus by that family.

(d) An agency providing adoption services that charges maternity, birth, and other expenses of the birth parent to prospective adoptive families shall

(1) include in the fee policy a complete description of the types of expenses that may be passed through to prospective adoptive families;

(2) have available for review by the division and provide to the prospective adoptive family a report for each prospective adoption, in which the agency charged expenses to the prospective adoptive families;

(3) provide an estimate, in writing, to prospective adoptive families of the pass through expenses the agency anticipates will be associated with the specific adoption; this must be provided before the prospective adoptive family pays or agrees to pay money for placement of a specific child;

(4) if the agency exceeds estimated expenses by more than 10 percent. obtain an acknowledgment and agreement to the additional expenses, in writing, from the prospective adoptive family; and

(5) inform the prospective adoptive family, in writing, that a birth parent may choose not to relinquish a child for adoption.

(e) An agency providing adoption services shall meet the following standards with regard to financial assistance to birth parents:

(1) an agency may not influence or attempt to influence a parent to make a decision to relinquish their child by offering any form of financial or other material incentive;

(2) an agency may not make any payments to, or on behalf of, a parent for goods or services that have already been paid for and may not seek reimbursement for any expense not met by the agency;

(3) an agency may not make any payments to, or on behalf of, a parent for goods or services for which the parent is eligible through public money or private insurance benefits to which the parent is entitled;

(4) an agency may make allowable and reasonable expenditures on behalf of a parent only when a demonstrated need for expenditures related to the pregnancy and adoption exist;

(5) unless an agency can demonstrate that the basic health or safety of the parent or child is in imminent danger, the agency may not, by action or advice, disrupt an existing agreement in which needs are met and then make expenditures to meet those needs;

(6) each expenditure related to an adoption must be documented by receipts that must include date of payment, identification of the payee, purpose, and express indication that money was expended for services rendered or goods provided.

(f) In addition to the requirements of (e) of this section related to expenditures of an agency on behalf of birth parents, if any expense appears to be greater than the usual costs in the community, the child-placing agency shall show that the expenditure was appropriate. The agency shall document in its records that all expenses are necessary and that a birth parent does not have a public resource or private insurance benefits to meet these expenses. An agency may meet expenses of the parents after the birth of the child only for the period of time that the birth mother is incapacitated due to childbirth, but not to exceed six weeks postpartum. An agency shall obtain a variance in a particular adoption from the division to meet any expenses for the birth parent beyond six weeks postpartum.

History: Eff. 1/1/2001, Register 156

Authority: AS 44.29.020

AS 47.35.010